why do airplanes have such small windows??

Question

what would happen if they were larger?

Answer 1

The skin of the airplane provides the greatest portion of the structurl strength. A window is a hole in the structure. As a generality, a bigger window requires more material (more weight) around the hole to bridge the load past the hole. The extra material to bridge the hole increases weight - so bigger holes increase the weight more.

But airplane design isn't just about efficiency. People wouldn't like riding in an airplane with no windows. On the new Boeing 787, the windows will be notably larger than o previous airplanes. The bigger opening is compensate for by using composite materials rather than metal.

Answer 2

From what I understand airplanes have small windows to prevent cracks from the cabin pressure. This is also why the windows have the same shape no matter what kind of airplane you fly in (if it is pressurized of course). In the 1950 the DeHavlland Comet was one of the first pressurized aircraft to have problems with accidents because of large square shaped windows. This was a big problem for Britains major airline BOAC (now British Airways). A large investigation found that stress on the aircraft because of the windows mixed with the cabin pressure was one of the main causes of the accident. By the way, I think it would be cool to have windows on the floor of the airplane to see what is on the ground below. Unfortunately they have to reserve that space for cargo. Some smaller planes, however, do have a peephole for a camera on the floor.

Answer 3

Many aircraft can have very large windows. I think the ones you are referring to are windows on aircraft that have pressurized cabins. At a high altitude (10.000 ft above sea level, & above) the interior of an aircrafts cabin is pressurized so that the people inside can survive without the use of an oxygen mask. The difference in pressure between the inside of the aircrafts cabin & the outside is so great that the windows would blow out if they weren't secured properly. A smaller sized window is more structurally sound than a larger one, & is less likely to develop leaks or cracks that would be dangerous for the safety of the occupants of the aircraft while flying at high altitudes.

Answer 4

at such a high altitude, the pressure is so great. If the windows were bigger, they would be more prone to blowing out, and that wouldnt be good. Airliners are equiped with small, but thick windows.

Answer 5

one of the areas not touched on in the answers is that the window size is also limited to the area between the more sturdy framing...the actual stiffeners behind the skin that forms part of the fuselage's body.

the metal skin is held on to a metal lattice framework by often thousands of rivets. in order for the plates to resist the build up of air for pressurization the rivet patterns have to be very small in size. consequently, the windows and there associated framing have to fit in these areas.

think of it has if you were putting in a picture window in your houses wall, but because of the houses structural strength requirements, you are limited to a window 2 feet square, due to that's the space between the frames.

incidentally, it wasn't just that comets had large square windows...it was the fact that they were square that led to the metal fatigue problems that cause the crashes. when they rounded the corners the problem was less pronounced but the plane had such a bad rep that no one wanted to fly on them anymore.

Answer 6

When you are high up in the sky you can see so much more of the earth below than when you are on the ground. They design the windows small so that the aspect ratio of your normal vision will not be put askew. If you could see broad vistas at altitude, your brain's ability to process the extra information would be overwhelmed to the point that you might experience vertigo, spacial disorientation, or worse! Birds avoid this by having very small brains. No, really it's because of the pressure thing that everyone else says.

Answer 7

Most of the answers are good - but what about the windshield? It's quite large and takes the brunt of forces...the structural strength is the factor - large solid or riveted areas of metals will withstand the most pressure, vibration and turbulence. Think about the space shuttle or other rockets which have windows... small windows to maintain the most solid surfaces. Give the points to predhead3 - the first to relate to structural strength.

Answer 8

The 1st jetliner the comet had large windows this unfortunately led to several deadly crashes as the big windows accelerated metal fatigue around the big windows which eventually failed leading to massive decompression and loss of the plane. Since then all airliners have small windows on pressurized planes.

Answer 9

The pressure inside an air-liner is so much higher than the pressure outside that if the windows were larger, there'd be a high risk they'd pop out...

Answer 10

I assume you are referring to airliners and business jets, with that said, they cannot be too large as the help hold the pressurized air in the cabin and too large a surface could fail and cause a rapid decompression, as the window also acts as part of the structure with re guards to pressurization.